Feb. 13, 2015

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

Central Florida scored once in the second and three times in the third to build an early lead it would not relinquish in a 4-1 victory over Siena on Opening Night Friday in Orlando. Chris Amorosi and Matt Quintana combined to toss four innings of scoreless relief for the Saints.

Both teams finished with eight hits and seven of Siena's nine starters hit safely. Senior captain Justin Esquerra finished 2-for-4, and classmate Brian Fay delivered the Saints' only run with an RBI single in the fifth.

Siena had base runners all night, but left 10 men on base. They had two on with no outs in the first, the bases loaded in the second, two on with one out in the eighth, and a leadoff double in the ninth, but failed to score each time. They also left two men on after Fay's RBI hit in the fifth.

Matt Diorio walked and came around to score UCF's first run in the second, but starter Bryan Goossens left a man on third to avoid further trouble.

Trouble came in the third.

Kam Gellinger began the frame with a double and Dylan Moore followed with a run-scoring triple. Matt Diorio and Eugene Walsh each had RBI doubles later in the inning to give the Knights an early 4-0 lead.

Goossens rallied to work a scoreless fourth and Siena's brilliant bullpen took over from there.

Amorosi pitched the sixth, seventh and eighth innings allowing just one hit and striking out three. He faced just one man over the minimum. Quintana came on in the eighth and lived up to his preseason hype by striking out the side. The West Simsbury Conn. native was named Most Valuable Pitcher and a Third Team All-American after a stellar summer in the Futures League.

Reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year Dan Swain reached base three times for the Saints. He began the game with a single and walked twice.

First pitch in the middle game of the three-game series is set for 4 p.m. Saturday.